The Barnevelder hen
Barnevelder hen characteristics:
The barnevelder hen is a medium heavy large fowl soft feather chicken. Mine are happy, care free and easy to look after. The Barnevelder is a stunning bird, especially the laced types and lays the most amazing large chocolate brown egg.
Whilst they are active and prefer to be free ranged they are docile with plenty of character. Their cold hardiness and good nature makes them easy to look after for the chicken keeper.
How heavy should a Barnevelder hen be?
The Barnevelder hens ideal weight is 2.9Kg or 6.5lb and she should not weigh more than 3.3Kg. If you are happy just having them wandering in your backyard then you need not worry about the size too much.
Below: The Ideal weight for a Barnevelder hen is 2.9 to 3.2kg.
The Barnevelders are medium heavy dual-purpose chickens laying a good number of large brown eggs but also producing a reasonable carcass if you choose to raise them for meat.
They are hardy birds and good foragers and mine love to free range.
This beautiful bird is well mannered, calm and quiet and doesn’t mind being confined although it prefers to be free.
- Origin: They come form the town of Barneveld in the Netherlands
- Size: 2.3-3.8kg
- Bantam Size: 0.8 - 1.1kg
- Rarity: Moderately rare but becoming a little more common.
- Dual Purpose: Much sought after for the large coffee coloured brown eggs
- Colour varieties include: Chestnut, Standard Double-laced, Black, White, Autosexing barred, Dark brown, Partridge, Double-laced Blue, Splash , Silver-black double-laced.
See detailed descriptions of the types and colours of the Barnevelder chicken.
What sort of eggs do Barnevelder hens produce?
- Large and Brown
- 180-200 Eggs Average Annually
- Solid shells and bright yolks
Below: The eggs of the Barnevelder hen.
It is sought after for its dark chocolate coloured brown egg. The colouring can be scratched or washed off and the eggs tend to fade as the season progresses.
What are Barnevelder hens like to keep in the backyard?
Easy. They are happy go lucky birds that are not at all flighty. Mine are free range and this is the life they prefer. Barnevelder hens are not good flyers and generally choose not to.
The Barnevelder hen has dark brown or chestnut ground colour plumage with a double lacing of black, sometimes referred to as double-laced. They are very pretty and tame easily.
There are also varieties of the breed which have white and blue lacing.
Barnevelder hens have a single comb and red ear lobe. The breed has an upright stance, a broad breast and short wings carried high, making them poor flyers. The skin colour is yellow.